Daily roundup: Children in care, sex education, council spending
Barbara Speed
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Commissioner calls for change in public attitude towards child neglect; survey highlights need to teach children about consent; and Devon Council reports an overspend in social services, all in the news today.
The British public is less outraged by neglected children than neglected older people, Maggie Atkinson, the children’s commissioner for England, has said. Atkinson told the education committee that too many people assume children in care are “in trouble,” leading to resistance to opening new children’s homes in some areas, the Telegraph reports.
Schools have been urged to teach about consent in sex education after almost a third of young people said they did not learn about it at school. The information comes from a survey carried out by the National Children’s Bureau, which also showed that one in three children would not know where to get help if assaulted, the BBC reports.
Devon Council has overspent on social work services following a damning inspection report on its children’s services. According to the Exeter Express and Echo this included a £6.1m spend on adult and child protection following concerns raised by Ofsted last year. Nearly £300,000 was also spent on bringing in extra agency social workers to meet an increasing number of referrals.
Teaching assistants (TAs) believe that without their support many challenging children would be excluded from mainstream school. A study carried out by the British Psychological Society on the role of TAs showed that most felt they had a positive effect on the children and young people they work with and are proud of the role they play in schools.
Former Home Office minister Paul Goggins has died aged 60 after falling ill last week. The Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East was director of the Church Action on Poverty campaign before being elected to Parliament in 1997. He was also a trained social worker and previously ran a children's home, the BBC reports.
And finally, 100,000 people have signed a petition urging Education Secretary Michael Gove to spend a term teaching in a school. The Independent reports that the petition was started by teacher Amy Neill six months ago to make the minister “appreciate and respect what a challenging job we actually do”.
